Monday, January 31, 2011

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!
In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Robin McGehee, Director of GetEQUAL and Molly McKay, Media Director of Marriage Equality USA, for a Gay Marriage update and about joining forces for a very important Valentine's Day Action. Since 2001, Marriage Equality USA chapters have engaged in annual marriage license counter actions to show the discrimination that is enforced every day against our LGBT community. Whether states have gay marriage, domestic partnerships, civil unions, or without any legal protections under their state's laws, all gay couples are denied the 1,138 federal rights of marriage. This Valentine’s Day action is an opportunity for our LGBT community to bring attention to this travesty and participate by going to their county clerks throughout America and requesting marriage licenses on February 14, 2011.When asked how this collaboration came about McGehee stated, “From the GetEQUAL perspective we are in agreement that this nonviolent and civil disobedience action is going to illuminate for the community, not only locally in your own city, but if you can create a national narrative with multiple different cities and states taking action on Valentine’s Day by going into marriage county clerks offices and requesting a marriage license and introducing yourself to the staff that’s there and also to the (heterosexual) people who are there to get married and highlighting for them the discrimination, essentially we are producing the “lunch counter” moment. There are also people who are interested in having sit-ins and facing possible risk of arrest because they are unwilling to leave to highlight the discrimination. No matter where you fall in the spectrum from the person who doesn’t want to risk arrest to the person who does want to take that risk to highlight discrimination, the benefit is that people are taking action. As long as we are together in concert working toward highlighting discrimination at some point it will be the clarion call that cannot be denied. That is what I watched and witnessed from Molly and Marriage Equality USA for years, so when she called and asked if we could join forces together I didn’t hesitate because it just felt like a good fit.”

When asked what they hoped to accomplish with this action, McKay stated, “Ideally this is an opportunity for us to be in every local paper, every local TV and radio station in the area where an action takes place. It is important to be able to tell the local stories and for the people to hear from real-life people who are impacted by marriage discrimination and to have pictures of our families and have stories of how the inability to marry has impacted us. It is also an opportunity for our straight allies to come out and speak in support of marriage equality. So it’s really an opportunity to put a very personal message and face on this issue.”

We also addressed DOMA, (the Defense of Marriage Act) and Prop 8 which were both found unconstitutional in federal court. With public opinion polls showing that America favors gay marriage, we urge President Obama, Congress and all states with discriminatory laws on their books to stand for justice and equality for all people, as the Constitution requires, and work together to uphold the American tradition of fairness and equality by ending marriage discrimination.For Info to Join the Action: equalityevents.ning.com

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

OUTTAKE BLOG™: Was Mona Lisa a Drag Queen?
In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Josh Rosenzweig host of “Just Josh” which made its worldwide television debut January 28th on here! TV and on here! Online. The show is filmed on location throughout New York City where Josh gives the traditional talk show format a new twist. From celebrity interviews to premiere VIP events, Josh brings his own brand of humor and his intense love of New York City to the small screen, treating the audience to a unique and entertaining spin on pop culture. The premier episode features an in-depth interview with writer, actor and drag legend Charles Busch. Additionally, Josh explores the work of celebrity photographer Johnny Rosza, currently being featured at New York’s Christopher Henry Gallery, and visits the trendy Alias restaurant.

When asked what he would like to see happen in 2011 for LGBT civil rights, Josh stated, “That all states pass marriage equality laws, for sure. And really in a general way I would like to see the continual visibility of powerful, successful, happy, gay men and (gay) women. I think that one of the things I know that stood in the way, that was a real hurdle for me to overcome was with my own mother and father, who are very traditional liberals not conservative at all but very liberal, sort of New York intellectual Jews, but still they thought that being gay was a road of unhappiness. There was just no possible way for you to be happy. And you know what? You can live and be successful and you can be admired and you can achieve great things personally and achieve great things spiritually and you can achieve great things professionally and still be openly gay. Be yourself, that’s the message. And that’s what I hope for 2011. We just keep moving forward in that direction.”

We had an opportunity to talk about “The Kids Are All Right”, the torch bearer for gay visibility at this year's Academy Awards and who would be on Josh’s guest wish list like David Bowie, Meryl Streep and gay icons like Bette Midler and Madonna. Celebrities that will be appearing in upcoming shows include rock legends Duran Duran, screen beauty Isabella Rossellini, Emmy Award nominee Molly Shannon, Tabatha’s Salon Takeover star Tabatha Coffey and New York staples Sherry Vine and Joey Arias.For More Info: www.heretv.com/Just_Josh/about

Friday, January 21, 2011

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Amy Sueyoshi, co-chair of the Board of Directors of GLBT Historical Society and co-curator of the new GLBT History Museum in San Francisco. The museum which had its grand opening on January 13th is featuring two debut exhibitions. In the main gallery, “Our Vast Queer Past: Celebrating GLBT History,” and in the front gallery, “Great Collections of the GLBT Historical Society Archives.”

When asked how The GLBT History Museum came about Sueyoshi stated, “The GLBT History Museum has been one of several goals the GLBT Historical Society has been working towards. We’ve always had exhibits along side our historical society office in the archives but this is the first time we secured a separate museum space in the Castro for a significant amount of time. We’re the first in the nation and the second in the world. It’s a remarkable achievement for us 25 years after the founding of the GLBT Historical Society started as a small grassroots community organization run entirely by volunteers in the midst of the AIDS crisis in the early eighties. At that time gay men’s belongings were being thrown out with complete disregard and a group of folks decided it was important to honor these young men’s lives and to preserve a history that had been frequently seen as shameful and irrelevant. The GLBT Historical Society’s primary goal has always been to preserve queer history to form an archive. Through the GLBT History Museum we’re now able to share this very important history to a broader audience.”

Located in San Francisco in the heart of the Castro district at 4127 18th Street, the museum includes 1,600 square feet of gallery and program space to create a museum as rich, diverse and surprising as the LGBT community itself. Whether gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or straight, visitors are sure to be moved, enlightened and entertained. This choice location can accommodate tens of thousands of tourists every year who come to San Francisco in search of LGBT culture. The GLBT History Museum joins the Schwules Museum, the queer museum founded 25 years ago in Berlin, as one of only two stand-alone, full-scale museums devoted to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history. A number of other LGBT archives and libraries will also offer periodic exhibitions at The GLBT History Museum. (Photo by Mia Nakano)For More Info: www.glbthistory.org

Thursday, January 13, 2011

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Grammy winning music icon Patti Austin about issues close to Ms Austin’s heart and her new CD entitled "Sound Advice".

Patti Austin lives in California where Prop 8 was found unconstitutional. When asked what her feelings are about LGBT civil rights Austin stated, “I wish that people would put more emphasis on how they’re treating themselves because we have a lot of haters walking around. It takes a lot of time to hate and it takes a lot of time away from you dealing with your own issues. When you worry about what somebody else’s sexuality is, what somebody else’s political proclivity is, instead of trying to figure out what yours is, and try to hone in on that and make that work, and taking the energy to hate on somebody else because of the way they want to live their life is foolish, absolutely foolish and sad. People need to be allowed to live and grow and be who they are. And if what they are doing is not effecting you, I don’t understand the concern or even purpose behind the concern.”

Austin also reflects on the one year anniversary of "We Are The World 2" recording/video for Haiti Relief which she co-produced with Executive Producers Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie. Patti Austin has been performing since she was four years old and was discovered by Dinah Washington and mentored by her now "godfather" Quincy Jones. She was later known as the "Queen of Jingles" and then quickly transitioned to the top of the Billboard charts with classics that include "Baby Come to Me" and "How Do You Keep The Music Playing". Whether performing in the pop, contemporary jazz or straight-ahead jazz world, Patti leaves her vocal stamp on every note her voice touches. With 9 Grammy nominations and a recent Grammy win for her revered "Avant Gershwin" recording, Patti Austin proudly reigns amongst music's elite. Her eagerly anticipated new pop CD, entitled "Sound Advice" release date is January 25th.For More Info: PattiAustin.com

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Robin Bronk, CEO of The Creative Coalition. The Creative Coalition is the leading national, nonprofit, nonpartisan social and public advocacy organization of the arts and entertainment industry. This is the organization founded in 1989 by prominent figures in the creative community, including actors Alec Baldwin, Ron Silver, Christopher Reeve, Susan Sarandon, Blair Brown and Stephen Collins. The Creative Coalition educates and mobilizes leaders in the arts community on issues of public importance, specifically in the areas of First Amendment rights, arts advocacy and public education.

Over the past few months there’s been a great deal of media coverage about the fact that LGBTQ teens are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. Sadly numerous LGBTQ teens have taken their own lives after facing bullying incidents. When asked how can we turn this around and reach these kids, Bronk stated, “One of the things that The Creative Coalition does is we’re a real proponent of using the arts to advocate, to educate, to activate and to motivate citizens; whether it’s teens, kids or adults on issues. So one of the things from our toolbox is that we’d certainly advocate and be supportive of any campaign that utilizes the arts and entertainment to promote this very important social welfare issue. I would encourage your listeners to email their favorite television programs. Have the television programs take up storylines about this. Encourage the Ad Council to put their dollars and their airtime behind public campaigns that address this. We know that entertainment can move the needle. And so I would encourage listeners to support campaigns that originate in the entertainment and arts world.”

The Creative Coalition is a strong presence at the Sundance Film Festival that takes place January 20th-30th. They conduct panels, seminars, and two very special events. On Sunday evening, January 23rd, The Creative Coalition and SELF Magazine will gather leaders in film and creative arts to celebrate and honor influential women of the industry at the Tribute to Women Who Make Women Look Good on Film. On Monday January 24th at Sundance The Creative Coalition will present the Spotlight Initiative Awards. Those accepting awards will include the cast and writer/director of Margin Call, an enthralling thriller featuring an all-star ensemble cast set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry. The film was written and directed by J.C. Chandor and stars Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, with Demi Moore and Stanley Tucci. Liv Tyler, Ellen Barkin are being honored and Wednesday TCC announced that Oscar winning actor Alan Arkin will receive a 2011 Spotlight Initiative Award. Isabella Rossellini (Animals Distract Me) and Maria Cuomo Cole (Living for 32) also will be accepting awards for their short films. Both shorts and Mr. Arkin’s film (The Convincer) are featured selections in the upcoming Sundance Film Festival.

The Creative Coalition has produced a must-see film about their important work called POLIWOOD directed by Barry Levinson. For the next 30 days a special sale of the acclaimed film which is available on DVD, will benefit several national charity organizations including The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, PSI Youth Aids, The National Education Association’s Read Across America, HELP USA, The Pennsylvania State University, Blue Star Families, The Veterans Healing Initiative, Artists for a New South Africa, The African Medical and Research Foundation, The Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center and Being Alive San Diego.For More Info: www.thecreativecoalition.org

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About Us

OUTTAKE VOICES™ provides a series of audio interviews produced
by Boston-based OUTTAKE MEDIA with LGBT leaders & their allies, hosted by Emmy Award Winner Charlotte Robinson.
OUTTAKE VOICES™ exclusive interviews will address our issues such as
Marriage, Parenting, Religion, Hate Crime Legislation, Equal Rights in the
Workplace and the Military. We also provide interviews with our LGBT
community in the entertainment Industry. It’s Time to Connect the Dots….
OUTTAKE VOICES™Bridging the Gaps….